


anywhere but here

by cookiemustdie



Category: Bandom, My Chemical Romance
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Eventual Smut, Fluff and Angst, Friendship/Love, Gen, Homophobia, Implied/Referenced Suicide, M/M, Mildly Dubious Consent, Self-Esteem Issues, Teenage Drama, Trauma, Underage - Freeform, a lot of britpop, i find both gerard and frank so relatable oof, this one's pretty soft
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-31
Updated: 2021-02-26
Packaged: 2021-03-10 19:22:24
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Underage
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,640
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28492335
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cookiemustdie/pseuds/cookiemustdie
Summary: In which Gerard changes schools and meets Frank, who changes the way he sees things.
Relationships: Bert McCracken/Gerard Way, Frank Iero & Gerard Way, Frank Iero/Gerard Way, Kristin Blanford/Mikey Way, Patrick Stump/Pete Wentz
Comments: 5
Kudos: 4





	1. tea for three.

Gerard grumbled, wearily stroking his hair, his breath slightly fogging the car window. He closed his eyes lazily, wanting to get to this fucking city for once and all.

Spotify's shuffle was already ringing in his ears, annoying him. He looked back at the window once more. He wasn't even quite there yet and he already hated this place.

He thought about his life back in New York, how he missed things that he didn't think he would even remember at all. And also how this place didn't even come close to compare.

"Hey, mom's talking to you," Mikey tugged his arm, making him take off his headphones, clearly pissed off.

"What?"

His mom smiled in a sigh. "I was asking if you're okay, how do you feel?"

Gerard sighed, _horrible_.

"Fine..." He didn't want to make her feel bad.

"Yeah?" She smiled at him in the rearview mirror. Gerard just pursed his lips, nodding. Mikey was just looking at an undefined point on the ceiling. "You have to consider this a new beginning, right? Sure you'll make a lot of friends, you'll be great. I loved growing up here."

_Yeah, well, not my case._

Gerard raised his eyebrows. If he barely had friends back in _Brooklyn_ , here less. Not that he was interested, anyway.

"I just hope they're nice here."

"They will be! There are good people everywhere, the problem is that you went to a... difficult school."

"Why are we here then?"

"What?"

"You heard me, why are we here? You could've just made me change schools."

Mikey raised his head. " _Gee_."

"We didn't need to move to another fucking state," he just kept talking, earning insults from his brother and his mother trying to calm them both.

"Now, now. Calm down."

"You're such a fucking prick."

"Michael, that's enough!" Their mother sighed. "Gerard, I know this isn't what you wanted; none of us looked for this, but this is just the way things turned out, okay?"

Way just closed his eyes in stress.

"You know that, after what happened with your father, we were low on budget." _Ooh, he didn't even want to think about that bastard_. He growled. "And, besides... going to that school wasn't good for you, you know that."

He opened his eyes immediately, lowered his gaze and licked his lips. He really didn't want to talk about this now, but he'd exploded.

Well, he did feel like an idiot now.

"Yeah... I know. Sorry, mom."

There was silence for a moment, until the blonde woman smiled and turned her gaze.

"It's okay... just as long as you're happy."

He didn't respond to that. Instead, he settled back in his seat to continue listening to music, observing the landscape outside. They'd already got in the damn _Belleville_ , passing through some kind of park.

A group of teenagers caught his eye. While seeing them, the world seemed to start moving in slow motion. There were two girls, two brunettes, talking to each other on one of the benches. Then, two boys, one with a hat on top of the other, who had an afro; talking to another girl, blonde and apparently younger.  
Lastly, right in the middle, there was a short boy with a cylinder on his lips, his hair was dark, dyed red on his shaved sides. He was on a skateboard, trying to do something; behind him, some brown boy a little taller than him, who surprised him by grabbing his sides. He seemed to be trying to teach him how to stand properly, _way too close_ to his face concentrating on not falling. He looked at him and took whatever he was smoking from his mouth provocatively, making him laugh.

And before Gerard could read or decipher what those lips said in response to such theft, the kids disappeared from his sight.

He came back to reality with yet another comment from his mother.

"We're here."

_Jesus, had he been out of it that long?_

Anyway, he got out of the car with his family, the truck with their belongings stopping nearby. It was going to be a long day.  
Mikey looked at him with a frown and went to help his mom, Gerard just made a face and decided to do the same. Box after box after box. Moving into the small house took almost their entire day.

Around ten o'clock at night, he was finally able to get into his bed, super tired. He closed and opened his eyes, and then appreciated his new room — which was actually the basement, but, hey, at least he no longer had to share with Mikey. He sat up and looked at the boxes he had yet to unpack, sighing. He opened one and found an old photo, smiling unconsciously.

Bert looked so cute in his red shirt and military-colored shorts, smiling at the camera; while he only had the sides of his lips slightly raised. _He missed him terribly_. He propped the photo on his bed and went to his suitcase, quickly searching for his _hoodie_.  
Finally, he put the big piece of clothing on his body, _it still smelled like him._

Curled up in a ball, he lay down again, supporting his photo on his lamp and bedside table, the upper part of his body covered by the cologne that once belonged to his best friend. He decided to focus on not crying and sleeping instead, finally.

He could take care of everything tomorrow.

° • ° • ° • ° • ° • °

Gerard ate from his stale toast, his throat was dry.

"So... How do you feel? First day, and all that." Donna looked at her children with a smile and a cup of coffee in her hands.

"Nervous..." said Mikey, eating from his cereal. "But, I don't know, I think it'll be fine.

Gerard poked his sleepy eyes. Three days had now passed since his arrival and, honestly, he'd managed quite well. Granted, he'd barely spoken.

"What about you, Gee?"

"Huh? Yeah, sure..."

His mom just smiled empathetically, and finished breakfast. Both brothers started getting ready; Mikey wanted to make a good first impression, while Gerard just combed his hair a bit and finished.  
The journey was the same again; Mikey talked to his mother while he listened to music, ignoring everyone.

He wanted to be with Bert listening to _Blur_ at lunch, not spend it alone at a table with his brother.

"We're here, duckface." The boy took off his headphones, getting out of the car with a "Bye, ma".

"Be good and have a nice day!"

Gerard sighed, propped himself up on both feet and walked calmly into the building, trying to pass unnoticed.

His brother was at his side, earning somewhat strange looks from the students going back and forth to their respective classes.

"I have math, it's over there..." Mikey said, looking at his schedule and then the rest of the hall. "What about you?"

"Uh, biology."

"Great, we're close. See you at lunch, okay? Good luck."

 _How the fuck could he be so calm?_ Gerard was ashamed, he felt babysit by his little brother.

With heavy steps, he went to his first period class. When he got to the door, he took a deep breath and mentally prepared himself for this long, heavy day.

° • ° • ° • ° • ° • °

_'Ch-Ch-Ch-Churchill, got his lucky number_  
_Tomorrow there's another_  
_Could be me, could be you'_

_Damon Albarn_ filled his eardrums with joyous rhythms, talking about winning the lottery. He eyed the students going back and forth again, all to their lockers or to lunch. It was so weird to start school in November, he felt like an idiot.

_'... Oh, that's it, you've blown it_  
_All we want is to be happy-'_

"Hey," Mikey's hand scared him. "God, seriously, can you get that shit off your ears?"

Gerard just sighed, listening to him and putting them in his hoodie pocket — or rather, Bert's.

"You good?" His brother was attached to his side.

"Sure... You?"

Mikey laughed. "You know? You're going to have to stop pretending and be honest at some point."

_Fucking smart-ass._

"C'mon, Gee, we used to tell each other everything, what's up?"

"Yeah, well, we were four years old then, Michael."

The great bustle of hundreds of other teenagers got present once they entered the cafeteria and lined up to get their food. Gerard could kill for a coffee right now.

"Don't act like that."

"Like what?"

"Like a jerk."

"Why, thank you."

They both served themselves some food and went to the tables.

"Here, come on, let's sit there."

Gerard frowned. "Oh, no no no-"

"What?"

"Michael, I- _I don't need to be taken care of, okay?_ "

His brother just kept walking. "Oh, you don't?"

Gerard, stupidly, followed him. "No! I don't want you to introduce me to your new little classmates."

"What, you have a better idea or somewhere else to be?" The brown haired boy just smiled at him ironically, he was tired of his shit; tired of trying to make him feel better with no success.

"Hey, Mikes," a head popped up between the student and called him.

_Oh._

_That was the kid from the park, with the afro._

"Hi, Ray." Way's youngest brother put his tray on the round table, full of other people. Good God, it was almost everybody from that stupid park.

Gerard just stayed hard in his place, not knowing why he was so anxious.

"Ah, this is my brother Gerard, excuse his manners." The kids laughed, the mentioned swallowed nervously.

"Hey, Gerard, I'm Ray. Sit down, c'mon." So that's what he did, right in the middle of two girls.

"Hi, I'm Jamia," the brunette introduced herself, with a big smile.

"I'm Kristin," a blonde girl, with soft make-up, followed.

"Patrick..." Another blond with glasses, whom he hadn't noticed, spoke shyly in front of him.

"Great, pleasure." He smiled and they all returned the gesture. Most appeared to be from the same year as him, if not older.

"Is _Frank_ coming or what?" Jamia asked, eating her lunch.

"He and _Pete_ said they had things to do..." Ray took a bite of his apple. "And _Lindsey_ was absent today, she got sick."

"Well, that sucks." While all of them were talking to each other, the Ways seemed to eat while paying attention. "The idiot owes me money, apart from ditching me on Saturday."

"Yeah, well, that's just how Frank is."

This Frank guy sounded like a douche, to Gerard's mind.

° • ° • ° • ° • ° • °

The bell rang, _freedom._

The brothers wait outside for their mom while they chat with their new friends. No news from Frank or Pete yet.

Gerard notices his brother talking a little too close to the aforementioned blonde girl, both smiling and exchanging glances. He thinks about Bert and how he would like to caress his hair right now-

"God, fucking finally!" Ray exclaims and everyone looks his way.

Finally, Gerard can further confirm his "kids from the park" theory, since there he finds the remaining two; the boy who was on a skateboard now walks normally, with his crazy hair and unruly disheveled clothes. Next to him is another boy with dark hair, quite similar to him in terms of clothing.  
The partially redhead smiles when he sees Jamia running towards him, jumping on him. The other boy laughs and greets the rest of his friends, Patrick blushes when he hears a "hello, beautiful" from him. Gerard just pays attention to everything.

Focusing back on Jamia and his friend again, he's putting his arm around her shoulders, and she seems to be reproaching him for something, at which he just laughs.

"Look, these are Mikey and Gerard, they're new," commented Jamia, pointing to those who seem like bugs from other species in the group.

"Hi! I'm Frank," he introduces himself, looking at both of them. "And that one, sucking Patrick's face, it's Pete." He smiles cheekily, receiving insults from his two, now exposed, friends.

" _Cool_ , I'm Mikey," the boy smiles and sees him through his glasses.

"Gerard," he follows, and just says that, cold, almost without expression. Frank smiles at him.

Okay, maybe it was a little hasty to assume that this guy would be a douche, he seems nice. He thinks he might even come to like him.

A horn is heard, Donna's here. Both brothers say their good-byes to their new schoolmates. Pete high fives Gerard, making him jump; Frank laughs and just brings both their cheeks together, really kissing nothing.

"Bye, see you tomorrow," he says softly, watching the black-haired man closely, who, without knowing why, feels like an idiot all of a sudden.

"Sure," he manages to mutter and quickly follows Mikey to the back of the car. The vehicle starts almost instantly, Gerard doesn't dare look out the window, not even out of courtesy.

"So..." their mom starts when they're already a few blocks away. _Oh God_. "I see you guys made some friends, huh. It was a good day then, right?"

Mikey smiles, thinking of Kristin. "Yes! They all seem super cool, they're all from the same class as Gerard, except for Kristin, Patrick and Ray."

"How nice, hope I can meet them one day." Donna smiled. "What about you, Gerard? How are you feeling?"

"It was alright," he said after a few seconds of silence. After that he shut up, his mom got the message and left him alone, with a grimace on her face.

The boy covered himself with the hoodie and closed his eyes, pressing it and smelling it against his face.

_"Don't you think we should go?"_

_"Now?"_

_"Yeah, I hate this city."_

_"Hmm, it could be worse."_

_Bert chuckled and handed him the cigarette he had in his hand. "Seriously? With my dad and yours... Could it really be any worse?"_

_Gerard laughed. "Well... At least I have you, right?"_

_Bert bit his lip and pushed him with his shoulder. Gerard just smiled at him and leaned a little closer to his body, seeking the affection that only he could give him. McCracken rested his own head on his._

_"Someday... You'll have your books and I'll have my paintings, and, when my mother visits us, she'll surely scold us for having the whole apartment smelling like cigarettes," Gerard said, amused, day dreaming. "And I'd surely draw you a thousand times..."_

_"Yeah?" he sweetly asked, teasing him._

_"Of course, although it'd take me years to achieve your perfection on paper." He stroked his nose with his own._

_Bert bit his lip and smiled, walking away. "You're such a tool."_

_"Mmm, you love me, Robert." He crashed his head on his chest, his friend began to stroke his hair, making him relax._

_"Of course I do, Gee."_

Gerard reopened his, now cloudy, eyes.

_'There's no place like home.'_

He wept softly in silence all the way back to his new home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> oof
> 
> well yeah, as u may have noticed, i am here uploading yet another one of my shitty fics. hope u like it! ((i promise it gets better))
> 
> gimme some love and leave a comment if u like, sorry if there's any mistake!
> 
> \- may 💖


	2. pissed off, funny and warm.

_"Mmm..."_

_His lips were so soft._

_The pair of hands were softly caressing his nape and hair, their bodies were pressed against each other, wanting to be even closer._

_"Gee..." The mentioned just kept on kissing his neck with pure, sweet devotion. "Your hair's getting shaggy."_

_Gerard laughed and broke away from his neck, he loved him being so shy._

_"You don't like it?" he teased._

_"No, of course I do! I was just saying..." Bert blushed and looked down at his feet._

_"I'm just fucking with you, dummy," he pecked him, making him let out a nervous giggle._

_But innocence disappeared little by little; Gerard locked his room and kissed him again, caressing his waist. Bert smirked, grabbing his pants as he kissed his neck and then-_

**_Beep! Beep! Beep!_ **

Gerard closed his eyes in annoyance, "Mmm, fuck off."

He reached out his hand, almost breaking his cell phone in anger, turning off the alarm. He rolled across the bed onto his back, sighing.  
He growled even more once he noticed his problem, mentally kicking himself for not having slept with Bert before he'd lost the opportunity forever.

Oh, _Bert_.

He was a little ashamed to think of him in this way; no matter how much it had happened to him, and even "acted" on it, several times. He missed him, _he missed him more than anything_.

"Just... go away." He covered his head, intertwining his two arms, fed up. He squeezed his legs, but it was worse. An involuntary sigh came out.

He really wasn't in the mood. Flash memories began haunting him.

Bert,  
Bert,  
Bert,  
Bert,  
Bert.

He abruptly got out of bed, settling on a cold shower to clear his mind.

It did work.

° • ° • ° • ° • ° • °

"God, what happened to you?"

Gerard grunted at Lindsey's question. Today, he had to start with biology, again. _Fucking Mondays._

That's right, he was sharing the class with Lindsey, the girl who was sick the day he arrived; so now, two and a half weeks after arriving at school, he had someone to talk to.  
Today, as always, the same old hoodie accompanied him, along with a pair of dark circles under his eyes and pale skin.

"I didn't sleep."

"I noticed, are you okay?" she asked worriedly, sitting on the desk behind him.

Gerard nodded. "Yes, I'm just feeling very homesick, I miss my-"

The classroom door closed, letting the teacher come in. Everyone was silent, she was a bit... serious.

Gerard rolled his eyes, and spent the whole class doing reluctantly. He couldn't even turn around to speak to his friend. He really liked Lindsey, she was funny and pretty outgoing. He loved the way she put on makeup and dressed, like she wasn't afraid to be who she was and do whatever she wanted. Besides, she knew how to play bass.

After a while of sheer stupidity, the bell rang again.

God, did he have to put up with this for another year? He hated the ridiculously monotonous high school life, why did adults constantly tell pure lies? "Oh, these are the best years of your life"; bullshit!

If Bert were here, he'd probably agree.

° • ° • ° • ° • ° • °

"I'm going to kill you, Iero!"

And the scene was repeating itself once more: Ray eating chips, this time chatting with Lindsey; Mikey flirting with Kristin; Patrick blushing as Pete caressed his hair; and Jamia childishly fighting with Frank.

Ah, _Frank._

Gerard also liked him too; just as Lindsey, he seemed to care very little about everything. With his dark makeup on his eyes, his piercings, his clothes. Honestly a cheeky, but really sweet boy once you meet him. But it seemed that the boy had a certain reputation.  
Well, he did not give a damn, he loved to _have fun_. He loved being with people, in a lot of different ways.

Whatever, Gerard was not the type to judge, more so if they were talking about his friends. It seemed great to him that Frank, and anyone in his new group of friends, was able to enjoy their sexuality. _Who cares?_

Jamia buried her head in his chest, she looked like an animal defending herself. Frank started to laugh, looking at Gerard from his place. Way returned the gesture. Yes, he liked frank.

_So cheekily sweet._

He turned his gaze to his cell phone, entering Bert's chat.

_I miss you._

He grimaced.

"Gee, look," he raised his head when he heard his brother, who offered him candy. "D'you want some?"

Fuck yeah, he loved sweets. He didn't know why he was complaining about the way Jamia and Frank acted, he was exactly the same. They were all kids.

He ate with a smile on his face.

"So..." Pete started speaking, drawing everyone's attention. "Saturday, at Ray's?"

Everyone cheered, except the owner of the house, of course.

"Fuck off."

Mikey laughed, Gerard sighed. He wasn't that fond of parties, and had barely drunk alcohol in his teens. Bert didn't like alcohol.

"Come on, it'll be fun!"

"Yeah, well, last time I had to deal with everything myself, you fuckers." They all laughed at the curly guy. "So now, either you help me clean everything up or..."

° • ° • ° • ° • ° • °

"I'm gonna kill you!"

"God, Ray, don't shout," Frank complained, clearly stoned.

Gerard raised his eyebrows, sighing as he felt a little tired. Unlike most, he and Mikey had only drunk a little, and, in his case, smoked a few cigarettes.

Lindsey and Kristin tried helping Jamia to get her to the bathroom, but she just kept throwing up, ruining Ray's carpet. Pete was laughing until Patrick scolded him with a smack on the back of his neck.  
Thank goodness it'd only been a small gathering among them.

The girls finally managed to take the brunette out, Ray knelt to clean up the disgusting mess, being helped by the kind-hearted Mikey. Patrick decided to go get more cleaning supplies, there was a horrible smell.

"I'll... go smoke, be back in a sec," announced Gerard, heading to the patio of the house.

"I'll join you."

He frowned at Frank's words but let him come anyway. A yellowish light illuminated the small space, Gerard turned on his cylinder in silence.

"You're weird," Frank leaned against one of the walls, snorting. Gerard just smoked while looking at him curiously. "But... in a good way."

Way laughed, only he could turn an insult into a compliment.

"Thanks, Iero. The feeling is mutual."

Frank laughed, realizing how stupid he had sounded. "Can I bum one?"

"Mmm, I only had this one."

"Hmm, I don't mind sharing." The semi-redhead grabbed his cigarette.

"Just don't suck on it..." He hated that.

Frank frowned as he took a drag. "God, Gee, I know. What, d'you think I'm a five year old?"

"Well, sometimes you do act like it."

Frank gave one of his trademark giggles, making him smile.

"Does your mom even know you smoke, big guy?"

Gerard had the carcinogenic element between his fingers again. " _Touché_."

Frank licked his lips, smiling at him. Gerard let the smoke out of his mouth. They both stood facing each other, looking at each other without saying anything. Frank still had that smile on his face, now a bit more malicious, cheeky.

"So..." he started, "how are you adjusting to this whole new... environment?"

"Oh, it's okay. Nothing too terrible."

"Mhm... What about your friends, do you miss them?"

"I had no friends in Brooklyn."

"Ah, come on, I'm sure you did."

"... _Mmmnope_."

"You must have had someone, Gerard." He rolled his eyes. "A _pumpkin pie_ like you would not be alone that long."

" _Pumpkin pie_?"

"It's a compliment."

"Is it?"

"Of course, it means that you are warm and... _appetizing_."

Gerard burst into laughter, Frank joined him. _What the hell were they doing?_

"Thanks, Frankie." He stepped on the butt with his slipper. Gerard wasn't dumb and, even if he was interested (which, he wasn't), he knew Frank just felt lonely and needy. Fuck, the son of a bitch even tried hitting up on Pete sometimes.

But, again, who was he to judge? Besides, there was no need to take it to heart, they were just playing, joking around. _And it didn't bother him at all_. And, it wasn't like he could do anything about it, so...

"I was joking, you know?" Frank finally spoke. Gerard was going to say yes, he already knew, but was interrupted. "But I still think it's weird that you didn't have any friends there, you're fun."

"Mmm, I don't think so. Maybe it's due to my shyness, but yes, I barely spoke - _I barely speak at all,_ " he corrected himself.

"You seem normal to me. People don't have to be talking all the time to prove themselves, that's annoying.

"What about girls?" the black-haired man asked funny, where did all this good humor and confidence come from? _Jesus._

Frank smiled a bit shy. "They don't count."

They fell silent again,  
but it was comfortable.

He liked Frank.

"Anyway, I should go, it's late."

"You're not staying over?"

"Nah, mom wanted me to be back at home, even though she's asleep." He rubbed his eyes sleepy. "See you, Gee." He nodded his head and positioned himself on both feet to start walking and leave.

"Bye, Frank."

The mentioned turned around standing at the door, smiling at him.

"Goodnight, _pumpkin pie_."

Gerard smiled back.


	3. blur.

_hey_

Gerard looked at his screen with curious eyes, Frank had never texted him before.

"Gerard, honey, help your brother, yeah?"

He rolled his eyes at his mom's command, locking his phone and getting up from the table. He went over to where Mikey was, who was hanging the decorations on the tree. He quickly got to his side and began to fill the tree with him, his mother cleaning the rest of the house.

The youngest smiled at his brother. "Thanks for helping."

Gerard smiled but thought to himself, _damn, does he even have to ask me to make the Christmas tree? I really am bitter._

"So... What's up with Kristin? You guys are moving pretty fast, huh," he teased.

Mikey blushed. "Shut up, it's nothing."

Gerard smiled playfully at him, dangling one of the marbles. "You're not? You both seem super close to me."

"W-We're friends."

"Right."

"Ugh, not all of us are as cold and lonely as you are, Gerard."

"Ouch?" He loved teasing his brother. "I'm not cold. I may not have many friends, but I'm not cold."

" _Right_ ," Mikey teased him sarcastically, making him laugh.

"Anyway, are you going to see dad?"

Mikey stopped his movements. "You serious?" Gerard nodded, oh? "No, of course not."

"Oh well, I thought that-"

"That I didn't care?"

_Yes._

"No, I didn't say that. It's just... I... I don't know, I thought-" He seemed unable to finish the words, he didn't know why this topic kept making him feel so bad.

"Hey, Gee, chill." Mikey left the ornaments with extreme care back in the box they were in, quickly comforting his brother. "Of course I care, _I care about you_." He hugged him.

The black-haired boy felt a very sudden, enormous sadness, with almost tears in his eyes. He didn't know why he felt that way... Or rather, _he wanted to pretend not to_.

"After what happened, I can't stand the sight of him."

But that only made him feel worse, because he didn't want his brother to lose his relationship with his father just because of his fault. _His fault. His fault. His faul-_

"Hey, Gee, seriously," Mikey took him by the shoulders, breaking away from him, "he's a bastard. And, besides, if I wanted to be with him, I wouldn't have come all the way down here, don't ya think?" He laughed, sweetly bitter.

Gerard also laughed, trying not to think. _Not thinking was good, right?_

He hugged his brother again. "Thanks for staying."

Mikey laughed lightly, accepting the show of affection. "Sure."

They parted again and smiled.

"Now, help me finish this fucking tree for once."

Gerard laughed again, Mikey always made him feel so happy, even after they fought.

° • ° • ° • ° • ° • °

_Bert hit the play button._

**_'All those dirty words'_ **

_" **Jusqu' la fin**." He approached Gerard, resting his hands on his shoulders. The black-haired boy smiled._

**_'They make us look so dumb'_ **

_They attached their bodies and began to dance around the oldest's room._

**_'Been drinking far too much'_ **

_" **Jusqu' la fin,** " Bert kept muttering a very bad French, making him laugh._

_"You really are terrible, aye."_

_McCracken hit him on the shoulder. "Fuck you, and to think I wanted to do something nice for ya..." He tried to get away from him, angry._

_"I like that you are terrible." Way grabbed him by the waist again, speaking close to his lips._

**_'Well, you and I collapsed in love'_ **

_Bert blushed, but stayed in place. They kept dancing with their faces close._

_"You know I have to go soon, right?"_

_"Yeah..." the older said sadly against his chest. " **I hate him**."_

_"Me too... But soon all this nightmare will end, right?"_

_Bert raised his head again, looking into his eyes and pursing his lips. He opened his mouth and was about to say something, but a noise from the house interrupted them._

_"Shit, that must be him." McCracken immediately broke away from his friend, turning off the music. "Hide."_

_"What? Are you crazy?" Gerard exclaimed in a whisper as Bert walked around the room, checking that everything was in order. "And hear how he treats you?"_

_"I'll distract him, calm down. Whenever you can, run away." He grabbed the sides of his face, stroking his barely long hair. He gave him one last kiss and left the room._

_That day everything went well, luckily._

_Too bad that the next day, it didn't._

_"What happened to you?"_

_"I just fell."_

**_Bang._ **

**_Bang!_ **

**_BANG!_ **

_'You and I, we just collapsed in love_  
_And it looks like we might have made it_  
_Yes, **it looks like we've made it to the end** '_

" _Hey!_ " He felt how his headphones were ripped from his ears. " _Pumpkin pie_ , you didn't texted me back."

Gerard took a moment. _Blur_ was still playing from his headphones, Frank was leaning on the locker next to his, staring at him. Gerard felt foolish, again, just from looking at him.

"Uh, yeah, sorry," he came out of his trance, "I was busy."

"Yeah, I noticed," he smiled at him, "what were you listening to?"

Before he could answer, the half redhead took an earbud, putting it into his ear.

"Oh, _Blur_." He looked him in the eyes again, smiling.

"You like them?"

"Of course I do, who doesn't?"

"You say it like it's obvious."

"It isn't?"

"Well, they're not the best well-known band in the world, you know?" he asked rhetorically, closing his locker and hanging his backpack to leave school with his friend. "People tend to listen to _Oasis_ more.

"Fuck _Oasis_." Iero laughed. "I like them too, but _Blur_? Oof."

Gerard smiled. He genuinely smiled after a long time. They both kept walking towards the exit.

"I'm not very surprised, coming from you."

"what, that I like _Blur_?"

"Mhm."

They were already out, finally. Once again, _fucking Mondays_.

"Okay, why?"

"Well, you know what they say about _Blur_ fans."

Frank laughed out loud, pulling on his hood. It was cold out.

"I don't know, what do they say?"

And there it was, Gerard was about to tell the joke's punchline and then...

" _Frankie!_ " a voice exclaimed, a voice unknown to the black-haired boy.

Both young men headed their head to the same place. Another boy, tall, light brown haired and dressed a bit similar to Frank, had a plastered smile, looking at the short boy.

And speaking of which...

" _Johnny!_ " exclaimed Frank, running to see his 'friend', completely forgetting about the one he already had next to him.

Gerard saw from afar how the boy's body was lifted among all the students, and kissed on the lips by _'Johnny'_.

_Oh._

"I missed you."

"I missed you too, idiot." Gerard thought that Frank's smile could not be wider. He was a happy person, or so it seemed. He loved being the life of the party and making people feel good, smiling and laughing all the time. But this time it seemed real, more... special.

As if the person in front of him was the most important to his eyes.

And Gerard was jealous.

But not for this _Johnny boy_ , no.

But because... Well,

what about his person?

Who was going to look at him like that now?

"Jealous?" Gerard jumped once he noticed Jamia, when had she got there?

He huffed. "What? No, why would I be?"

"Well, it wouldn't be the first time someone is." Jamia looked at his friend with a malicious smile. "The little bastard can really get into your skin and ruin you."

 _What the fuck?_ "No, Jamia, it's not like that."

Jamia just laughed and dropped the topic.

"Whatever, see you tomorrow, Gee."

_What the fuck was that?_

_Whatever_ , Gerard waited for Mikey to come to wait for their mom together.

" _Pumpkin pie!_ " Frank called him again. He moved a little closer to where he was, the light brown haired boy following him with a smile. "Text me, okay? Maybe one day we could hang out and... _listen to **Blur** together_," he winked.

"O-oh, sure." Gerard smiled courteously, even more when he saw Frank's _'boyfriend'_ approach and grab him by his waist.

"Good, see you later," said the redhead, quickly leaving with that boy. _They seemed to have things to do._

Gerard watched as they disappeared of his sight.

"Who was that?"

"Ah!" The black-haired boy exclaimed when he saw his brother by his side. "God, y'all gonna give me a heart attack."

"Who?"

"Nothing. I don't know who that was."

"M'kay, why are you acting like this then?"

"I'm not acting in any way, Mikey." He saw his mother's car arrive, _thank God_.

"Is it because you like Frank?" He heard him ask as he got into the car's back seat.

"What? What the fuck are you saying?"

"Who's Frank?" Donna asked, with a smile.

"Nobody."

"A friend."

Gerard rolled his eyes. "A friend," he admitted. "But no, I don't like him like that, I hardly even know him Mikey, what's wrong with you?"

"Alright! It was just a question."

Gerard sighed heavily, leaning back in his seat with force. He put on his headphones.

Neither Mikey nor his mom said anything the whole way back home.

Or so he thought, all Gerard heard was _Damon Albarn_ acting as an emotional support and soundtrack of his life.

_Modern Life Is Rubbish;_  
_Coping._

Maybe the blond Englishman was right with that title, _his life is rubbish_.

_'And I'm too tired to care about it_  
_Can't you see this in my face, my face?'_

How dare they think he didn't like Bert anymore?

He loved him, he always will, _he promised he would._

_'When I feel this strange, can I go through this again?'_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> team blur or team oasis? this is a serious topic people. 
> 
> what do u guys think about bert? 👀
> 
> follow me on tumblr: @ cookiemustdie !
> 
> \- may 💖


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